


A Step Ahead

by spatialvoid



Category: Agent Carter (TV)
Genre: F/M, Pre-Season/Series 01
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-11
Updated: 2016-05-11
Packaged: 2018-06-07 20:46:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 747
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6823513
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/spatialvoid/pseuds/spatialvoid
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>She’s only been working in New York for two weeks when she finds him in the file room.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Step Ahead

She’s only been working in New York for two weeks when she finds him in the file room, rifling through the Project Rebirth box cautiously with one hand, holding the photo of pre-serum Steve up to the light with the other.  It’s odd, she thinks, when she knows that even Chief Dooley wasn’t bothered enough to actually read her file ( _supervisor_ , it would have said in clear, distinct type, with not a word about the oft-discussed snog in a moving car or the achingly empty radio room), to find Agent Sousa doing so.  However, she has noted that he seems a great deal more attentive to detail than any of the other agents, and so maybe it should come as no surprise to her that he’s trying to gather all of the available information, trying to scout out the territory.  She does think she ought to be surprised by the startled look he’s giving the photo of Steve, his eyebrows retreating so far into his forehead that she half wonders if they’ll stick there once he’s finished gawking. 

“Quite the looker, wasn’t he?” she spits out, and she’s remorseful in an instant, given the way his head jerks towards her, startled, and the photo floats out of his hand and onto the floor. 

“Um,” Agent Sousa replies, attempting to adjust his crutch and kneel to pick up the photo, and bloody hell, what a mess she’s made of things already.

She crosses to where he’s standing and crouches to pick the photo up off the floor, nearly missing the flash of relief that crosses his face when he realizes he won’t have to attempt the maneuver.  Her expression softens as she stands, her face suddenly mere inches from his.  “I’m sorry, I didn’t -”

He closes his eyes and inhales, shoulders tensing.  “It’s fine.”

She sighs and sets the photo back in the appropriate file.  “It’s a sensitive subject; I didn’t intend to startle you.”  Or maybe she had, but she surely hadn’t intended to make things more difficult for him.  

“I didn’t – I just…” Agent Sousa falters, glancing down at the photograph and then up at her again, almost as if he’s asking for permission.  “Everyone always talks about him like he was some kind of god.”  He pauses, looking at her searchingly.  “But from this, looks and sounds like he was just some kind-hearted scrawny kid from Brooklyn.”

Her breath hitches, and she doesn’t know why, but she lets herself lock eyes with him for a moment, taking in all the uncertainty he unconsciously relays.  “He was.”

“They say all kinds of things about you out there,” Sousa says, gesturing at the door to the bullpen.  “Stuff…” he clenches his fist around the grip on his crutch, “…about you sleeping your way into the job, about how you’re only here because you were -” he gestures at the photograph of Steve “- his girl.”

 He trails off at the end of the sentence, clearly wondering if he’s overstepped his boundaries, and she looks down at the open file box.  “I’ve heard them,” she finds herself responding. “They don’t surprise me.”

“I guess,” he says, and he gestures at the file box, “I didn’t think it all sounded much like what I’d seen you do the past couple weeks – Dooley would call you an exemplary agent if you were a man – and I wanted to know the truth.”  He picks up the first file on top of the box and reads from it.  “Agent Margaret Carter, Supervisor.”  He looks up at her.   “This isn’t a step in the right direction for you, is it?”

She takes the file from him and sets it in the box.  “The war is over, Agent Sousa.  According to most people, a step in the right direction would be for me to find a husband and give up my job to some ‘capable GI’.”

“Most people are full of shit,” he says.

Peggy looks him over appraisingly. “As much as I appreciate the sentiment, Agent Sousa, one doesn’t get anywhere by expressing such thoughts.”  She watches as he ducks his head and replaces the lid of the file box.  “You,” she says, gesturing at his crutch, hoping she isn’t being too insensitive, “and I will simply have to prove them all wrong.”

He heaves the box back on to the shelf.  “Easier said than done.”

She nods at the box and smiles as he meets her eyes.  “You’re a step ahead of them already.”

**Author's Note:**

> I rewatched 1x01 "Now Is Not The End" last night, and the ease with which Daniel jumped to Peggy's defense over her relationship with Cap, in addition to the familiarity laced throughout their interactions, inspired me to write this. I love them both dearly.  
> Comments are very much appreciated, either below or [on Tumblr](http://peg-carter.tumblr.com/).


End file.
